What Is Oil Pulling

Oil pulling sounds like a funny term. After all, you can’t pull oil. It’s a liquid. 😉 But people are hearing more and more about it as the rebels around the world stop to look at alternative methods to health care. So,what is Oil Pulling and what is the purpose and benefit behind it?

Benefits of Oil Pulling?

Most supporters of Oil Pulling with tell you that oil pulling will pull toxins from the lining of your mouth and roots of your teeth, while cleansing from all bacteria growing in the mouth as well.

According to a study by the Indian Journal of Dental Health, ” Oil pulling has been used extensively as a traditional Indian folk remedy for many years for strengthening teeth, gums, and the jaw and to prevent decay, oral malodor, bleeding gums, dryness of the throat, and cracked lips.“ 1

The study that was done in the Journal focused on cavity, plaques, and levels of bacteria in the mouth. The control group used a mouth wash. The results: oil pulling cleansed the mouth and reduced plaques the same as the mouth wash. Those doing the study claimed that oil pulling was more time consuming, but less expensive and highly effective.

Other authors will claim that it heals almost everything under the sun. I don’t think we can qualify everything on “a study that’s been done”, because often studies are only done if there is a cash benefit to the results. This meaning that there are a lot of great traditional methods out there that haven’t been “proven” by some study, but many will tell you that it has helped them in some way. This is one of those things. There are testimonies galore about oil pulling that go beyond the great benefits found in the study above.

Bruce Fife at the Coconut Research Center gives the analogy that oil pulling through the teethe is like fresh oil in your car. It picks up the grime and muck. 3

Another benefit I see over and over again from testimonies is that it will whiten your teeth and keep them white. This makes sense, because oil will coat you teeth, not allowing grime to build up.

Even if you don’t believe that it relieves headaches, pulls toxins from your body, or fixes pms, you still have the great benefits of cleansing your mouth, reducing plaques, whitening your teeth, curing bad breath, and placing a protective layer over your teeth.

I will discuss remineralizing your teeth later on, but for now, know that a lot of oils will also build your teeth up and even help them heal by giving your body the minerals that it lacks in our present day diet so that your teeth, like other bones in your body, can begin to repair themselves.

How Do You Oil Pull?

Very simply: you put a Tablespoon of oil in your mouth and swish it (pull it) around your mouth for 15 to 20 minutes. That’s it.

I’ve read that it’s best done on an empty stomach because it will activate the enzymes in your mouth better that way.

I only taste the coconut oil for a few seconds and then I mainly taste my spit…which gets to be a lot…just sayin’

Place 1 Tbsp of Oil in mouth and swish around for 15-20 minutes. You can even use a drop or two of an essential oil like peppermint.

Do NOT swallow it (you won’t want to anyway, I’m sure), because if it is pulling toxins from your mouth you don’t want to keep it in your body.

Spit it into the trash can, not down the drain. You want to avoid clogging drains.

Which Oils Should I Use?

Sesame Oil is the traditional oil used. Coconut oil is the oil of my choice. It has very little taste and is full of great minerals (and I always have it around because I cook with it). You can use other oils like olive, but be aware of their taste. Olive, for example, has a strong taste and I’m not sure I could do it. Please stay away from “vegetable”, “corn” and “canola” oils as they are usually full of toxins because of how they are grown (not to mention that the seeds are mostly gmo now).

There you go! I’d love to hear your experiences – if you’ve tried it, if you think it works…..

Hi Kelly,
I do oil pulling every night with organic coconut oil (which I believe is the best choose) I love how it makes my mouth feel and it is such an easy simple thing to do to improve your health. The way I look at it I don’t know how it could hurt you so what do you have to lose? I pinned & twitted your article. Thanks for posting.

I do it in the morning – before eating or drinking -either with coconut oil or sesame seed oil.Then I rinse my mouth with warm water and drink a little lemon water. I think the sesame seed oil is more effective, but the coconut oil tastes better. It clears out my sinuses, and helps really clean my mouth. I’ve been doing it for a number of years.

I’m just starting to use a remineralizing mouth wash that contains calcium/magnesium powder and mineral drops. Can I safely remineralize and oil pull every day or would I be getting too much calcium etc?

Just one comment – you are right that we should be critical of research results but not all research is conducted for a cash benefit. Yes, there is a lot of research funded by manufacturers and big corporations so one should critically examine what they read. In addition, a lot of research is not black/white with definitive results so that should be taken into account too. ????

I just recently started oil pulling. I use coconut oil and a drop of thieves oil. I don’t particularly love doing it, it’s kind of gross tasting to me and the texture of the hard oil before it melts is just blahhh yucky. But I’d been having a horrible toothache that was giving me constant headaches and since I started pulling, I’ve only had a headache one day and no more hurting teeth!

First off, THANK YOU Kelly, for creating such an AMAZING website! Your thoroughness and attention to detail resonates throughout all of your posts! Not to mention, your willingness to share your knowledge and recipes when others would easily seek to profit. You truly have something great here and I sincerely look forward to your future posts! Thanks again, a new loyal follower!

I’ve been oil pulling for two years at least, my son too. We both had chronic sinus infections and we never have them now. Whiter teeth, healthy gums, no cavities and almost no plaque are a few more advantages. I’ve never heard anybody else say this but for me, I can see better when I oil pull daily is not a huge difference but I can read smaller print. I use virgin unrefined coconut oil.
If you have trouble start out with a small amount of oil, maybe a third teaspoon, swish for 2 or 3 minutes, spit it out and repeat. I got used to it and it’s been well worth the effort.
I burned my tongue drinking too hot tea last week and it hurt all day. When I oil pulled I added a good pinch of calendula powder, after 3 minutes the pain was much less and aside from feeling a little raw the pain was gone by the time I was finished and the next day it was completion well, it was amazing and worth the bitter calendula taste.

Here it is over two years later and I’m still oil pulling. I always get a good dental report, I have no receding gums, no oral problems. I have plenty of fillings from when I was younger and I haven’t had any problems with them from oil pulling so I think that is just a myth.

I started doing oil pulling about a month ago, after I read this blog. I have horrible teeth and gums and have bought everything on the market, from electric toothbrushes, all types of flossing things, including there pipe cleaner tpe things to put between your teeth to give them a really great clean. None of this has worked. SO I figured, coconut oil, the most I have to lose is people thinking I’m strange, but these people don’t pay my dentist bills! It really works! I have had an infection around the root of a tooth that cleared up in 5 days, AND I hardly ever get headaches any more, and for 4 years I routinely took 2 Tylenol twice a day with my vitamins, and the bursitis in my foot is gone! I did start oil pulling 2 times a day for 5 days to jump start, and went down to 1 time a day. I recommend what another person said, brush your teeth with water, oil pull, rinse mouth with warm salt water and brush your teeth with a bit of all natural soap, just run your toothbrush over the bar. Be sure to drink plenty of water afterward.